Privacy Policy

Effective 17 October 2026 (first version 12 August 2026) · applies to the Sarakku app and sarakku.in

The short version

Sarakku needs no account and, used that way, collects no personal information. No name, no phone number, no email, no contacts, no payment details. Signing in with Google or Apple is optional, and so is ordering ahead; what each adds is set out under "If you sign in" and "If you order ahead" below. Your precise location is used on your phone to show distances and pick your district — it is never uploaded to our servers. The app identifies itself with a random device ID that means nothing outside Sarakku.

What we collect

• An anonymous device ID. A random identifier created when the app first runs. It is not linked to your name or phone number, and if you sign in your account is deliberately kept apart from it (see "If you sign in").
• Your phone's model and operating-system version (for example "SM-S938B, Android 16" or "iPhone 17, iOS 26"), together with the app version. Sent with the device ID so we can trace a bug to the phones it affects and know which phones to test on. It is not a personal identifier.
• An install key, so we can tell a reinstall from a brand-new phone and keep our install counts honest. On iPhone it is a random value the app stores in your phone's secure Keychain, which survives deleting the app; on Android it is a one-way hash of the app-scoped Android ID, which resets with the app's data. It is used for nothing else — no advertising, no tracking across apps or sites, not shared with anyone — and it identifies a phone, never a person.
• Engagement events. Counts of actions like price checks, shop views, Pulse votes and overcharge reports, tied to the anonymous device ID. They power streaks, badges and the community Pulse — nothing else.
• A push notification token, only if you allow notifications. Used solely to deliver the restock and price alerts you asked for. Decline or revoke permission any time in system settings; alerts simply stop.
• Crash reports and usage analytics via Google Firebase (Crashlytics and Analytics): device model, OS version, app version, and which screens are used. This tells us what's broken and what matters. It is not tied to any personal identity.

If you sign in (optional)

Every feature works without signing in. If you choose to sign in with Google or Apple, this is what changes:

• Your sign-in is handled by Google Firebase Authentication, which holds an account identifier and the email address your provider shares with it (Apple can hide yours behind a relay address).
• One private document per account, readable only by you: your usuals list, your alert settings and language, and a reference to your device record so that your Pulse streak, savings, badges and ratings can move with you to a new phone. Our own servers are never told which account a device belongs to.
• Alerts by email, only if you switch on "Alerts by email too" in Settings. We then store your email address with your device record and use it for one thing: sending you the same restock, price and dry-day alerts the app sends as notifications, at most a few a day. The emails are delivered through an email service (Resend). Switch it off in Settings or with the link at the bottom of any alert email, and the address is removed from our servers.

Signing out leaves your phone's own list untouched and removes your email address from your device record. "Delete my data" in Settings deletes the account document and the account itself along with everything else.

If you order ahead (optional)

You pay TASMAC on TASMAC's own checkout inside the app; Sarakku never sees your card, UPI details or OTP. When an order is paid, the app sends our server the order's shop, TASMAC order code, amount, bottle count and time, with the mobile number you gave TASMAC. We keep this number to tell you when your order is picked up or refunded: for three days after each order our server asks TASMAC's booking service about that number's orders, and the app tells you when TASMAC marks one collected or refunded. The number is stored only with your orders, never in analytics, logs or error reports, and it is erased 90 days after your last order (or at once with "Delete my data"). We never store the name TASMAC holds for the order. If you answer "How was your pickup?" or "Why didn't you collect it?", we pass the answers to TASMAC shop by shop, without your name, number or order.

Your location

Distances to shops, the "near you" lists and your district's Pulse all need your position — and all of that is computed on the device. The app downloads statewide data files and does the math locally. Your precise coordinates are not sent to Sarakku's servers and are not stored by us.

What we never collect

Names, contacts, photos, payment details, government IDs. Phone numbers and orders only if you order ahead, as set out above. Email addresses too, unless you sign in, and on our own servers only if you ask for alerts by email. Sarakku shows public price and stock information; it does not sell or deliver alcohol — when you order ahead, you buy from TASMAC, on TASMAC's own checkout.

Services we rely on

• Google Firebase — analytics, crash reporting, push delivery and, if you sign in, your sign-in and account document (their privacy terms).
• Cloudflare — serves our data files and website; sees standard request metadata (IP, user agent) as any web host does.
• Resend — delivers alert emails, only to people who switched them on; it receives the address and the text of the alert.
• Mapbox — map tiles and place search; tile requests go to Mapbox's servers (their privacy policy).
• TASMAC — only if you order ahead: our server asks TASMAC's booking service for your orders' status with the mobile number you gave TASMAC, and nothing else about you.

We do not sell, rent or share data with anyone else. There are no ads and no data brokers.

Retention & deletion

Deleting the app stops all collection. The install key may let a later reinstall on the same phone be counted as a reinstall rather than a new phone; nothing else carries over, and the counters left behind identify no one. To erase everything we hold about your device right now, use Settings → Delete my data in the app: it deletes your device record, saved usuals, alerts, ratings, reports and orders (with the mobile number kept for them) from our servers immediately, and if you were signed in, your account document, your account and any email address stored for alerts. Anonymous, aggregated counts (for example how many price checks a shop received) remain, but they contain nothing about any device. You can also email us; since we can't know who you are, include nothing personal.

Age

Sarakku is for people 21 and older — Tamil Nadu's legal drinking age — and asks you to confirm this the first time it runs.

Changes & contact

If this policy changes, the new version appears here with a new effective date. Questions or deletion requests: [email protected].